Casey Stoner's continued success at his home Australian circuit carried on lats Sunday as the he tokk the chequred flag at Phillip Island for the third year in succession, beating Valentino Rossi accross the finish line by less than two seconds.
In his second Grand Prix back after three races, the 24 year-old Aussie posted an impressive win from pole, which moved him into third in the championship table with his third race victory of the season, which . Fellow championship contender Jorge Lorenzo made his task more difficult by crashing out at turn one of the first lap after clashing with Stoner's team-mate Nicky Hayden on the Ducati Marlboro motorcycle. Whilst Lorenzo's race was finished, Hayden managed to re-mount his Desmosedici GP9 motornike to finish in fifteenth place.
Valentino Rossi's runner up position gave him a lead at the top of the championship of 38 points over the unlucky Spaniard and Fiat Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo. With two races remaining, it now looks a formality.
In a long third place, Dani Pedrosa posted his first podium at the Australian racing circuit in the MotoGP class and Alex de put in a creditable performance for the fourth place slot.
Colin Edwards on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 motorcycle claimed fifth position from a fifth place start on the grid, and Italian Andrea Dovizioso on his Repsol Honda bike climbed from 10th on the grid to notch a 6th place finish.
With Lorenzo posting the only DNF, British rider James Toseland managed a below par 14th position.
